Legislative Update from Rep. Kristin Robbins

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

November 24, 2025

I hope you all had a great fall!  It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving is almost here. I hope you all have a wonderful time reflecting on all of our blessings and spending time with your family and friends. This holiday will be special for us as our extended family is getting together to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday. 

We have so much to be thankful for in Minnesota and America! As long-time readers of my newsletter will recall, one of our family traditions is to re-read the Thanksgiving Day Proclamation from President George Washington or President Abraham Lincoln every year. Both are excellent reminders of God’s blessing and our need for His help as we continue this amazing American experiment in self-government and try to build a more perfect union.

In July and this fall, the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Oversight Policy Committee has continued to hold monthly hearings to bring transparency and accountability to fraudulent programs in our state and to discuss ways we can strengthen oversight to prevent fraud before taxpayers’ money is stolen. Read on for highlights of these hearings.

Executive Summary

Human Services Fraud

Election Fraud

Preventing Fraud in Paid Family Medical Leave Program

Local Capital Investment Committee Tour

Pictures

SEPTEMBER FRAUD COMMITTEE HEARING - HUMAN SERVICES FRAUD

We had our fourth hearing with representatives from the Department of Human Services (DHS) in September. This hearing focused on fraud within the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) and the Integrated Community Supports (ICS) programs.

HSS is a Minnesota Medical Assistance (MA) benefit, that helps people with disabilities find and keep housing. It was designed for Minnesotans 18 years of age or older with incomes at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. ICS is a Minnesota Medical Assistance program that provides support and training to adults with disabilities to help them live more independently in their community.

Numerous fraud schemes have been uncovered in these programs, including billing for services when the recipient has never heard of the business; over-billing; not having any documentation to support that services were provided; billing for non-reimbursable services; and billing for a more expensive service when a lesser service was provided.

The fraud in HSS ended up being so rampant that DHS recently terminated the program.

The Department testified about ways they are changing how they operate to try to stop fraud on the front end, but it is incredibly frustrating that this has been going on for YEARS and they did nothing until media and the Office of the US Attorney started investigating.   

The most important part of the hearing was the testimony from the citizens who very bravely came forward with their stories. They shared how they had reached out to DHS multiple times with actual billing records, showing how they were getting billed for services they had not received, and DHS ghosted them. Far too late, DHS started to reply when negative news reports surfaced.

Some estimates project Minnesotans have lost billions of dollars to fraud and people haven’t received the services they need. I’m happy to see DHS is starting to take fraud seriously, they clearly have to improve their responsiveness to citizens and providers who are reaching out with credible accusations of fraud.

OCTOBER FRAUD COMMITTEE HEARING - ELECTION FRAUD

October’s fraud committee hearing focused on election fraud in Minnesota. Specifically, we looked into a case from 2021-2022, in which two individuals pled guilty to federal charges of election fraud for filling out and submitting between 500-600 fraudulent voter registration forms.

Questions from committee members to Secretary of State Simon and his staff focused on how these fraudulent registrations were processed and caught, whether any of the fraudulent registrations remain in the system, and whether non-citizens are able to vote using drivers’ licenses.

I am grateful that county elections staff caught and reported the fraudulent registrations and that our federal partners were able to secure guilty pleas in this conspiracy to commit election fraud. While the hearing answered some of our questions, including that the number of fraudulent registrations was between 500-600 and that those fake registrations were sent to 13 different counties, the Secretary of State did not provide the detail we need to be assured that all of these fraudulent registrations have been removed from our Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS).

I sent a follow-up letter to Secretary Simon requesting the exact number of fraudulent registrations, the specific counties they were sent to, and the number of fraudulent registrations that remain in the system marked as ‘challenged.’ In addition, it is important to know why, when this first came to light, all of the voter registrations submitted by the non-profit these two worked for were not flagged and segregated. Two of this foundation’s independent contractors were caught, but we should have had a review of all of the voter registrations submitted by this group. As of this writing, I have not received a reply from the Secretary of State’s office.

It is essential we start catching election fraud upstream to prevent illegal voter registration forms or absentee ballot requests from being processed so illegal votes cannot be cast. Since Minnesota doesn’t have provisional balloting for ‘challenged’ or same-day registration, once a vote is cast, it cannot be withdrawn.

Our role as the committee is to learn where breakdowns happen so how we can ensure a situation like this never happens again in Minnesota. We also want to ensure that the Secretary of State is following the law and cleaning up the voter registration roles with updated information from the Social Security office and the Dept. of Public Safety, as required by statute. We look forward to getting more answers from the Secretary of State’s office so we can ensure that bulk voter registrations are reviewed before they are dispersed to the counties.

Minnesotans deserve elections that ensure easy accessibility for all eligible voters but firm guardrails to protect against fraudsters.

NOVEMBER FRAUD COMMITTEE HEARING - PREVENTING FRAUD IN PAID FAMILY & MEDICAL LEAVE PROGRAM

Last week, the committee held a hearing with representatives from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to discuss how to prevent potential fraud in the Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) program.

PFML provides paid time off for qualifying family or medical events. It affects all employees in the state, whether full-time, part-time or seasonal and affects all businesses with at least one employee. Eligible employees may receive up to 12 weeks of family and up to 12 weeks of medical leave. Benefits will be funded through a 0.88% payroll tax, which can be split between employers and employees. DEED may also increase the tax – without legislative approval – to 1.1%. The program begins January 1, 2026.

This hearing was essential. We always talk about the need to stop fraud on the front end, but this is the first time we have ever held a hearing to evaluate a program for potential fraud before it becomes law. I hope this becomes a normal practice in the legislature.

The hearing raised many questions about potential vectors for fraud in the Paid Family & Medical Leave program. House Republicans pointed out numerous flaws with the law that remain unaddressed, including how eligibility of providers will be verified, how intermittent leave will be monitored, and how many caregivers can provide care for the same person for the same medical situation. This law is going to have a significant cost to every Minnesota worker and every Minnesota business and we want to make sure DEED has the internal controls in place to ensure the millions of tax dollars that will flow into this program will not be wasted or abused.

It was important that we had a public hearing on the concerns that were raised. As a committee, one of our top priorities is to prevent fraud before Minnesotans’ hard-earned money goes out the door – especially in new government programs. We don’t want to always be reacting to fraud that could have been avoided.

LOCAL CAPITAL INVESTMENT COMMITTEE TOUR

Next session, the legislature is expected to consider a capital investment proposal, which provides state revenue to help fund construction projects across Minnesota.

Local officials from the cities of Greenfield and Loretto were invited to testify during a recent Minnesota House Capital Investment Committee bonding tour. Both are seeking assistance for water treatment facilities in their communities. The committee also made a stop to view the Highway 12 project and learn how we’re trying to improve driver safety in that area. Highway 12 was also included in a recent Minnesota Senate Capital Investment tour. I was able to attend this event and discussed why highway improvements should be prioritized.

HIGHWAY 610 IS COMPLETE!!

I was pleased to attend the ribbon cutting for the COMPLETION of Highway 610 in Maple Grove, which now connects seamlessly to Interstate 94! 

This project has been more than 50 years in the making and I have worked closely with the city, MNDOT, and the members of the I-94 Corridor Coalition, who have been essential partners in getting this project done. This new connection with I-94 will significantly improve traffic and commerce in the northwest metro and we are all excited to finally have it done.

PHOTOS

On Veterans’ Day, I LOVED the opportunity to help serve breakfast to our HEROES who served or are serving our country & their families at Maple Grove Hy-Vee!

Had such a wonderful evening recently with friends & constituents celebrating the one-year anniversary of the India Chamber of Commerce MN! They have accomplished a lot in the first year and are just getting started - investing in start-ups, building relationships and creating opportunities throughout the state. Congratulations!

Always love attending Enterprise Minnesota’s State of Manufacturing event - a great opportunity to hear from manufacturers about how state taxes & regs are hurting their ability to create jobs & keep our communities strong. We need to cut red tape & streamline reporting!

I was honored to meet recently with a delegation from Taiwan in Chicago who were in Minnesota to discuss increasing our corn & soybean exports to Taiwan as well as other value-added ag tech partnerships.

I had a great meeting with the Orono Public Schools Action Team - so thankful for the great engagement with parents, teachers and school leaders in our district!

Always love catching up with Ron Schara of Minnesota Bound @ MN-FISH to hear their priorities for protecting and preserving our natural resources and outdoor recreation activities!

I was happy to celebrate the grand opening of Boston Scientific’s new R&D facility in City of Maple Grove, MN - Local Government! Grateful for all of the jobs, innovation and opportunity this facility will create!

I also enjoyed seeing constituents & friends at the Hindu Society of Minnesota Diwali celebration - always a festive and fun event!

It was a privilege to honor the service of Lao, Cambodian & Vietnamese veterans recently & commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War with Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, Minnesota National Guard Red Bulls Brig. General Sharkey & other U.S. Veterans.

Please Contact Me

Many of you have already been in touch to discuss your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you. Thank you for sharing your ideas! Please continue to contact me to discuss any matters to which I can be of assistance.

The best way to reach me is by email: rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn.gov. For occasional updates, you can follow my Facebook Page at @RepKristinRobbins. You can also leave a voicemail on my office number, 651-296-7806, which is checked every weekday while we are in session.

Of course, if you are coming to the Capitol, I’d love to meet you! Please reach out if you would like to set-up an in-person meeting. 

Have a great week!

Kristin

/RepKristinRobbins

239 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.7806